Saudi Arabia is considering building nuclear energy plants to diversify away from oil, CNBC quoted Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir in an interview on February 18 at the Munich Security Conference.

“We are looking at a number of countries that have nuclear technology for peaceful purposes,” Al-Jubeir said, calling on the US to give Riyadh the same rights as other nuclear nations in its push to process nuclear fuel indigenously. “There are roughly 10 countries that we are talking to…we have not made a decision yet with regards to which path we will take and which country we will be focusing on,” he said.

He said Saudi Arabia plans to produce energy so that we can save the oil and export it in order to generate revenue.

Addressing the Munich Security Conference on February 18, Al Jubeir said, Iran needs to pay a price for its “aggressive behaviour”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Iranian aggression as “the greatest threat to our world” and warned that Israel would resist any threatening move by Tehran. Netanyahu interrupted his speech to hold up a piece of metal he claimed came from an Iranian drone.